Marcus Kolga: Our parties need to stop playing along with hostile regimes

Canada’s political parties are, with alarming ease, abandoning and betraying democratic principles in pursuit of short-term electoral gain.

Canadian Press photo.

By: Marcus Kolga

Over the past two years, Canadians have been made painfully aware of the growing threat that foreign interference poses to our democracy. Through persistent media reporting and the findings of Justice Marie-Josée Hogue’s inquiry, we have heard and read about how authoritarian regimes such as China, Russia, and Iran seek to coerce and intimidate activists, journalists, and political candidates here in Canada. And yet, despite these glaring warnings, officials responsible for running campaigns for Canada’s leading political parties appear not only to be ignoring these threats — but, in some cases, playing along. In doing so, they cynically erode public trust in themselves, their candidates, and the democratic system they are supposed to defend.

The Liberal party’s latest failure to learn from its own foreign interference scandal in Markham–Unionville proves that without meaningful consequences, hostile regimes will continue to exploit these vulnerabilities — to the benefit of their own interests and the candidates they favour.

In the first weeks of the campaign, a video surfaced of outgoing Liberal MP and now-former candidate Paul Chiang, in which he shockingly suggested that Canadians could claim a $184,000 bounty placed on his Conservative rival, Joe Tay, by the Chinese government — by turning him in to the Chinese consulate. After Chiang’s resignation as candidate on April 1, the Liberals had the opportunity to nominate a candidate with a strong record of opposing authoritarian repression and defending human rights. Instead, they doubled down, appointing a replacement with seemingly deeper ties to regime-linked organizations. The message this sends — especially to communities vulnerable to foreign intimidation — is chilling: the government either doesn’t recognize the gravity of the threat, or worse yet, simply doesn’t care.

But let’s not kid ourselves: this decay of democratic principle is not limited to one party.

The Conservative party’s handling of the Joe Tay nomination is also concerning. Tay — a brave Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and target of the bounty issued by Beijing — was strung along in nomination limbo for months. During that time, he signed up over 1,000 new members in Markham–Unionville. But at the 11th hour, the party abruptly relocated him to Don Valley North, replacing him with a candidate ostensibly more palatable to those aligned with Beijing. This capitulation also sends a message about whose interests are being prioritized — and at whose expense.

Confronted with the choice of partnering with candidates who openly defend democratic values, Canada’s political parties are, with alarming ease, abandoning and betraying those very principles in pursuit of short-term electoral gain.

After a year of headlines, public hearings, and damning testimony, the lessons of the foreign interference inquiry seem to have been shelved — or, more likely, were never taken seriously by Canada’s political elite in the first place.

And amid all of this, we forget the real victims: Canadian voters. Their right to make free and informed choices — without foreign manipulation, coercion, or the looming threat of transnational repression — is being abandoned. The true cost of this is borne by all of us. It is our democracy, our sovereignty, and our values that are being eroded, one small compromise at a time until we reach a point of no return.

When diaspora communities — who came to Canada to escape the repression of authoritarian regimes — see our political parties appoint candidates who seek approval from, or encourage collaboration with, those same regimes, their faith in our democracy begins to fracture.

Justice Hogue’s report rightly identifies transnational repression as a growing threat to Canada’s democratic integrity. Authoritarian regimes deploy it to intimidate critics, manipulate public discourse, and tilt the political playing field. The idea that our own political leaders might enable such efforts — through wilful naivety or political expedience — should spark national outrage.

Canadians deserve leaders who denounce these tactics unequivocally and act to protect those who are targeted by them. Instead, they are met with silence — or worse, a smile, a wink, and a handshake at the nearest Chinese consulate or United Front Work Department event.

I speak from personal experience. As someone sanctioned by both Russia and China and regularly targeted by their state media and their Canadian proxies, I know the psychological toll of transnational repression. It is relentless and dehumanizing. And when elected officials — like Paul Chiang, my soon-to-be-former MP — dismiss these threats, or when their replacements appear to align with the very regimes responsible for them, it amounts to a profound betrayal of the trust Canadians place in our elected officials and democratic institutions. That betrayal threatens to inflict long-term, possibly irreparable, damage to public trust and confidence in our democracy.

Any party, candidate, or local campaign association coordinating with foreign authoritarian-linked entities must be exposed and held accountable. Their ability to influence our democratic institutions must be dismantled — and any future efforts deterred and prevented.

Make no mistake: if we continue down this path — normalizing collaboration, dismissing threats, and remaining passive in the face of creeping authoritarian influence — our democracy will bleed out, quietly, from the accumulation of these betrayals within.

Marcus Kolga is the founder of DisinfoWatch and a leading voice in the fight against disinformation and authoritarianism. His advocacy for human rights, democracy, and freedom, and leadership of the Canadian Magnitsky campaign, have earned him the distinction of being sanctioned by both the Chinese and Russian regimes.

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